| Polly Monica's art studio-themed tree. |
When we moved to our new (old) house, one of the things I was most excited about was having the room to put up a "mom tree" for Christmas. You know, the kind of stylized tree that has a theme and the ornaments are placed just so, rather than the higgledy-piggledy of the family tree.
I found a vintage pink metallic tree at a local flea market and then looked around for ornaments to hang on it. Having spent some money on the tree, I decided to deck it out with found items I already had. But what about a theme?
Knowing my love of all things tea, a friend had sent me a pair of crocheted ornaments, one in the shape of a teacup and the other a teapot. These first fiber art decorations inspired me to head for my sewing and craft supplies to find more in this vein.
Within minutes I'd amassed an assortment of objects including buttons, doll dresses, and pin cushions, plus strings of fabric yo-yos (another flea market find) and chenille rickrack to use as garland.
It worked out so well, I decided to keep the theme from year to year, adding more bits and bobs to the collection.
| Polly's bobbin ornaments. |
When I opened the Winter 2011 issue of Studios, I was charmed to see several Christmas-themed creative spaces, including that of quilter and stitcher Polly Monica. Polly brings the Christmas spirit into her studio each year by decorating a small tree with buttons, bobbins, old sewing machine presser feet, and spools of thread. A kindred spirit!
Any small art or craft item can become an ornament: rubber stamps, tiny balls of bright yarn, small paint brushes, found objects. And garland possibilities? Endless. Washers, old keys, crochet chains, lace trim, felted balls, paper cutouts . . . the list goes on.
While I was lingering over the pages of Studios, I noticed a couple of items from fabric designer Anna Maria Horner's studio that would make great studio tree trimmings. Her line of pearl cotton threads and bias bindings would make a festive tree for the needle worker.
| Anna Maria Horner's pearl cotton thread spools would make beautiful art studio ornaments. |
As luck would have it, Anna Maria has offered some of her fibertastic goodies for me to give away to you like the ones pictured from her Loulouthi Needleworks Collection! (Loulouthi means "flower" in Greek. I just had to tell you that.)
You can use them on your studio tree, give them as gifts to your artsy friends, or create beautiful fiber art designs with them. You might even make Anna's own easy felt circle garland.
All you have to do to be eligible is to leave a comment below telling me what item from your studio you'd be most likely to use as a decorative object. I'll announce the winners (yes, multiple winners) on the Cloth Paper Scissors Today blog November 28.
Be sure to check out the Winter 2011 issue of Studios to see more of Polly and Anna Maria's studios, as well as the creative spaces of painters, printers, animators, knitters, and more.